Availability and Awareness of Electronic Databases for Teaching and Research by Lecturers in Public Universities in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

The introduction of databases by university libraries has presented lecturers with opportunities of obtaining accurate, timely and up-to-date information with little effort. However, research reports have revealed that there is low level of awareness of electronic databases by university lecturers. Hence this study investigated availability and awareness of electronic databases for teaching and research by lecturers in public universities in South-west, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to: ( I ) identify the types of databases available to lecturers in public universities in South-west, Nigeria; and (ii) examine the extent of awareness of available databases for teaching and research by university lecturers in South-west, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive research design of a correlational type. The population comprised 10,452 lecturers in fifteen public universities in South-west, Nigeria from which a sample size of 836 was drawn using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that numerous electronic databases were available in public university libraries in South-west, Nigeria and that university lecturers’ level of awareness of most of the electronic databases for teaching and research was above average (60.6%) as against below average reported in the literature. It can be concluded from the study that the university libraries in South-west, Nigeria are not creating much awareness of their electronic databases. It is therefore recommended that university libraries, especially in South-west, Nigeria should intensify their promotional activities geared towards marketing their electronic databases.